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Getting caught up, and crafting away!

I promised I would write once a week, and I am sure trying! Everything is all over the place right now. Thank goodness for the chore charts I created to keep me and the family on task, or I have a feeling we'd be a bit overwhelmed with everything at this juncture.
Hubby is a minister. I may have mentioned that a time or two. At any rate, as a minister of a church, he must attend council meetings. This particular meeting will be at the parish administrator's/music director's home, and he needed a $10 gift. And, of course, he had no idea what to do for it. Alyssa to the rescue!!
We shop at Aldi for the bulk of our basics, and they have had these jars of hard candies from Germany, and the jars are just too nice to recycle after we have eaten the deliciousness inside them. I currently have 3 saved. I had no clue what I would do with them, but then Kev comes home with this little problem, and *lightbulb*. So, here is what I did, and the finished result. You will need:

1 glass jar with a top (make sure to eat all the candy and wash it out first!!)
Red and White worsted weight cotton yarn (I used Lily Sugar n Cream, because I love it)
Size I crochet hook
Whatever you want to put inside the jar (I bought Ghiradelli hot chocolate packets, a pair of inexpensive spoons at Target, and a small bag of peppermint M&M's)

This is a pattern I completely made up today while sitting on my couch watching A Christmas Story and trying to think about how to make this work. As such, this worked for me, and may not work for someone else! This project kind of depends on the crocheter to know the abbreviations and techniques already. I have been doing this for a few years now, so this is kind of second nature. If you want to know how to do any of thing this I listed, Youtube will be your best friend. No joke! One thing I did was keep measuring against my particular jar. That is how I got 3 rounds on the bottom before using the back loop method to turn the yarn upward. So, know your jar!

Ta da!!

The bow is made from holding the red and white yarns double and making a simple chain and tying off the ends. The spoons were too big for the jar, so I tied them on creatively. The boys said it looked pretty, so there ya go. I hope the man likes it, ha!
I also made a wreath for the front door. I bought a wire wreath frame, and then crocheted around the wires, creating a colorful circle. I used Red Heart Super Saver and With Love for it, in Christmas colors. It doesn't feel "done", but as I have several projects to finish before the holidays, it will have to do for this year.

Going around the frame

on the door!

The flowers are from Crochet Garden by Suzann Thompson, and the "snowflake" is from Crochet for Christmas, Star Book 83 (the quotes are because it isn't anything like the picture, but eh). The ornaments I made up completely, just simple crochet rounds with a "top". I used gold pipe cleaners to create the gold accents and "hooks" for the dangling bits. Overall, rather pleased, just feels unfinished. Oh well!
Shelley has written a series of blog posts for the new year, and so we will be featuring those in the coming weeks. I will sneak in one or two of my own posts here as well (socks!!!!), so we appreciate you stopping by and looking at the crazy things we get up to!
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Blessed Yule, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Festivus, and whatever else you celebrate at this time of year!!
Alyssa, aka 2 Dainty Crafters